Lessons From Leppings Lane: Hillsborough. Thirty Years On

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. When, on April 15th 1989, 96 people were crushed to death in Britain’s worst sporting disaster.

For the families of the victims it has been three decades of pain, grief and injustice.

Ahead of the anniversary the SportsGazette spoke with a Liverpool fan, Nottingham Forest fan and a sports journalist to recall the tragedy and what we have learnt since.

John Eccleston, a Liverpool fan, was just 22-years -old when he witnessed the tragic events unfold before him.

“I do remember the first few people coming out. Unfortunately they were all in a very bad way. I certainly saw bodies,” John recalls.

“The fact we were sitting, in the South stand, was quite
unusual. We very rarely got seats. Usually we chose to stand.

“It put me off seeing live football. I didn’t go to a match
for five years. I don’t know if it was the shock about what I had seen or nervousness
about football grounds. It just didn’t appeal to me,” he says.

John has since moved to London and has adopted Brentford as his second club. His affinity to Liverpool FC, though, will forever be stronger because of Hillsborough.

For Russ, John and all the other fans who attended Hillsborough, what they saw will forever be burned into the back of their minds.

We, as a footballing society, are still comprehending the
consequences of Hillsborough. The mistakes, poor decisions and neglect that led
up to that day, accompanied with the brazen dishonesty in the aftermath are all
tragic points to learn from.

David Randles is a sports journalist, from Liverpool, who formerly worked for the Liverpool Echo and Liverpool Football Club.

As a fourteen-year-old, David watched the tragedy unfold on the television. When he speaks, David’s words are passionate yet measured.

“I will always
remember watching all the people and bodies spilling out onto the pitch. You
could see, even on the television, that there was a real sense of panic,” says
David.

Being so young made it difficult for David to fully grasp the
magnitude of Hillsborough. As he grew up, though, his understanding matured.

Now, as a Sports Journalist, David looks back on the way the media handled Hillsborough with his own experiences and critical knowledge to hand.

“It was the first
time a lie – exit gate c being broken down by Liverpool fans – had been peddled
via official sources and the media’s live coverage.

“Journalists and the media have a responsibility to check facts before reporting as truth. It does, however, become much more difficult when reporting live,” he explains.

Young journalists, sports or else, can learn a lot from Hillsborough. David has these words of advice for anyone thinking about working in the industry:

“The main lesson a journalist can take from Hillsborough is
to double check, then triple check, your sources. You just can’t believe, on
face-value, what people say to you.”

The reason David says this is because of the infamous Sun
article titled ‘The Truth’. The Sun received its information from a local
Sheffield-based news agency called Whites.

“Once they (Whites) got the same information from a few
different sources they decided it was enough to run with. The nationals then
took the information and, without fact checking for themselves, ran with it too,”
David explains and continues,

“Too much weight was given to official sources. They abused
their power to manipulate the message. Official sources should be reliable in a
crisis situation but, as we’ve since established, that wasn’t the case.”

This information, or misinformation, was given to Whites by senior
figures in the Police force, Ambulance service and a local MP.

Other national newspapers did use the same information.
However, it was the way the Sun relayed it, stemming from the headline, that infuriated
the people of Liverpool.

“That headline put all those details into a completely
different context. Whereas the other newspapers wrote ‘it was claimed’ the Sun
used the information as solid facts. The story was put out with little thought
about the consequences,” says David.

Sensitive information should always be checked. In the
instant, digital, world of social media this is more important than ever.

Since 1989 the media, organisations such as the Police, and politics, have increased their efforts to maintain transparency.

Journalists now have strict codes of conduct, such as the
IPSO code and OFCOM broadcasting code, to adhere too. Sometimes, though, things
can still go wrong. Therefore you should always question things.

Liverpool FC will hold a minutes silence before Sunday’s
match with Chelsea. The city will also observe a minutes silence on the
anniversary at 03:06 p.m.

In Nottingham, on April 15th, a minutes silence
will be held at 03:06 p.m. to commemorate the tragedy and remember the 96 who
lost their lives.

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